CodeDoc

Okay, I haven't updated this blog in a while. The reason is i am bogged down with tons of school work. At the moment, I have being doing a lot of ASP.Net and thought that I would just write this quick guide to help the noobs out there to get started in programming with ASP.Net. As always, you need to have some prerequisite knowledge and tools to get started. Read on…

Prerequisite Knowledge

• Knowledge of VB.Net / C#.Net or J#.Net (necessary )
• Knowledge in using Visual Studio.Net (not necessary )

ASP.Net is a great technology. The catch is that it has to be written in one of Microsoft's Visual programing languages. If you have no knowledge of any, then i suggest you start with VB.Net. It is the easiest to grasp and still as powerful as its siblings. Also, all my future ASP.Net tutorials or guides will be 100% VB.Net only.

Being familiar with a previous version of Visual Studio would also be an asset but not necessary. You can get around the IDE in no time as it is user friendly, however, if you are a noob then go see the Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition Feature Tour.

Prerequisite Tools

• Visual Web Developer 2005 – Express Edition
• Visual Web Developer 2005 Express SP1 (Scroll down to find download links)
  
• SQL Server 2005 – Express Edition (not necessary – but good to have)

While Visual Studio Developer 2005 Express Edition is a great tool for creating ASP.Net pages, it does have it's limitations. What, you thought Microsoft would pity us startup developers with empty pockets? The major limitation is that you cant publish your website from the IDE like in Visual Studio 2005. Also, you have a limited set of features, but this will not hinder your exploration ofthe wonderful world of ASP.Net. Also make sure to get the Service Pack 1 available for download.

SQL Server 2005 Express Edition is another great tool by M$. It's like an enterprise level Microsoft Access. Thats right, its a Database Management System. It's good to have when your ASP.Net website will persist information or use information from a data source. For example, you can make a website that gives a list of countries and their corresponding area codes, which you can make available from a drop down list. The drop down list can retrieve the information from SQL Servers' database when the page loads. This is referred to as data binding. There are, of course, lots of other uses, so it would be an asset to get this.

In conclusion, I have to say if you follow through with learning ASP.Net, you are making a wise decision. It's easy to use, in demand and and will prove to be a great weapon in your arsenal as a web developer. After you think that you have grasped all the concepts and have a fairly strong command of the VB.Net language, you can go to Microsofts Coding4Fun website to see the works of others, inspire yourself and sharpen your skills. By the way, if you are shady in your knowledge of what ASP.Net is, then i suggest you get an overview knowledge at Wikipedia.